The Science

Multidisciplinary research demonstrates that high-quality connections – at every level – drive important organizational outcomes.

The science is clear. Valued and respected employees are more productive and collaborative than employees who feel isolated or disaffected. But open and collaborative cultures take time to develop.

There are no silver bullets. But one thing we know for sure: The most successful companies invest in everyone from the C-suite to the shop floor.

At Books@Work, we believe that investing in the relationship between colleagues – at every level – yields the most productive returns. When we take time to nurture authentic human connections, we foster engagement, creativity, respect and belonging. With increasingly diverse and dispersed workforces, organizations ignore the health and vibrancy of these connections at their peril.

Workplace Relationships Matter

Psychological Safety

Google’s well-publicized research confirmed that the company’s most effective teams demonstrated psychological safety or the “tacit understanding that their team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.” But as Harvard professor Amy Edmondson reports, psychological safety emerges over time and only in teams with trusting and respectful human relationships.

“[Books@Work] has been enlightening for me. . . this is a psychologically safe place where you can express things without being judged and people will actively listen to you.”

Inclusion

Diversity programs often fail because they don’t create the necessary pathways for inclusion. Research confirms that behavioral change begins when we address our biases, and effective social contact reduces our biases. In practice, individuals that work side by side begin to see each other as equals. These insights have deep roots: a famous study during World War II revealed that integrated platoons had dramatically less racial animus and more will to work together than their segregated counterparts. Familiarity fosters acceptance because we find the things that unite rather than divide us.

“We’ve learned to respect one another’s thoughts more than we did before. I’ve also noticed that we stop and actually listen to what’s being said by our teammates.”

Personal & Collective Growth

In a recent study on growing at work, scholars Scott Sonenshein, Jane Dutton and Adam Grant found that employees’ personal perceptions of their own growth were deeply embedded in social context: participating in group achievements, learning a common language, learning from colleagues and helping colleagues to learn. They attributed these achievements to communication, mutual support and the creation of a “safe space to take the time to acquire new perspectives.”

“I’ve worked with them every day, talking about work stuff. Then we do Books@Work, and something out of one of our books will prompt a conversation, and before I know it, there’s a whole new side of these people I didn’t see. It’s so well worth our time, because we’ve all grown. We’ve all grown together. We’ve grown separately.”

Productivity

In a compelling study at MIT, Alex Pentland used bodily-worn sociometers to measure social interactions in a former Bank of America call center. These digital devices measured the length and depth of interactions among colleagues. Colleagues who interacted more had faster calls, less stress and the same approval ratings as their colleagues who stayed glued to their phones. When the company synchronized employee breaks across their call centers, they saw a 20% drop in average call handling time – even for the lower performing teams – and a $15 million improvement in productivity over one year. It may seem counterintuitive, but it’s powerful: time to connect with colleagues fosters increased productivity.

“It’s refreshing to take your mind off everything for a while. You build relationships, you build a rapport with the whole team. I think it just makes everything easier when it comes to work. It definitely helps me, benefits my productivity. When you come out you’re just refreshed and you get back into it. The break is well worth it.”

Organizational Learning & Innovation

Interpersonal relationships have long been identified as a key driver of organizational learning in the R&D space. In a landmark study, two management scholars coined the term “absorptive capacity,” an organization’s ability to recognize and apply new knowledge and principles. Organizations with the highest absorptive capacity explored and converted new ideas by supporting individuals’ unique knowledge and experience and creating a space to share diverse perspectives. Social connections unlock these ideas and put them to work.

“The act of learning is essential to everything we do. If you want to learn, you’re going to be paying attention to not just your job, but the jobs around your job.”

Rethinking Workplace Learning

Books@Work creates the conditions for employees and organizations to build these high-quality connections. The carefully chosen story and facilitated conversation provide a safe space to explore a wide range of sensitive topics, inviting an exchange of ideas, perspectives and experiences not normally shared at work. The interplay between the literary narrative and multiple personal narrativesgives rise to a new collective narrative and a common language that invites trust, respect, openness and inclusion – in short, the authentic, sustainable connections that fuel a healthy and vibrant organizational culture.

“I just think that every employer everywhere should say, ‘Wait a minute, I want my employees learning all the time and I don’t care how they’re learning or what they’re learning because eventually that learning will help us.’ As long as you have a workforce that’s learning and growing and expanding their knowledge, it will benefit [everyone].”